MANILA — Amid cases of fires affecting mostly informal settler families (ISFs) in Quezon City since the start of the year, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte said coming up with more “sustainable” solutions is one way to curb the series of blazes destroying properties and endangering lives.
“Sana magkaroon tayo ng mas sustainable solutions dito sa problema ng laging nasusunog. Marami sa mga settlements na nasusunog itong taon pa lang ay nasunog na dati (I hope we will have a more sustainable solutions in this problem of prone to fires. Majority of the settlements that are being gutted by fire yearly have previously been gutted by fire),” Belmonte said in an interview Thursday.
“Most were caused by electrical wiring, such as faulty wiring that is prone to overloading,” Belmonte added.
She cited data from the Bureau of Fire Protection in Quezon City (BFP-QC), which showed that 785 out of the 1,034 cases of fire in the city last year were due to electrical connections.
To address this, Belmonte has partnered with the QC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Manila Electric Company (Meralco), Red Cross, and BFP for a Fire Prevention Education Program to be rolled out this month.
She noted that the program intends to teach residents of informal communities how to prevent fire, how to avoid overloading, and how to ensure that activities at home, such as cooking, would not lead to fires.
In collaboration with Meralco, the caravan will also educate residents on the installation of individual meters in each home under an electrification program for underprivileged communities.
Belmonte said that although ISFs affected by fires are given relief and financial assistance, they still return to their households for lack of relocation options.
“Kailangan may comprehensive plan talaga ang local government (The local government must really have a comprehensive plan),” Belmonte said.
“Ang permanent solution ay mabigyan ng sariling tahanan ang ISF families. At the end of the day, kung hindi man sunog ang magiging problema nila ay paaalisin sila ng may-ari ng lupa (The permanent solution is to give the ISF families their own house. At the end of the day, their problem would be either fire or ejection by the lot owner),” she added.
She said Mayor Herbert Bautista is in talks with the National Housing Authority (NHA) to declare all ISF communities in the city as danger zones so that ISFs can be eligible for NHA housing or socialized housing.
According to the BFP-QC, majority of fire incidents occur in informal settlements.
Of the 161 locations in the city that were affected by fire last year, 115 were in informal settlements, four in high-rise residential areas, and 42 in low- to medium-rise residential areas.
